Peg charts



SePt- 8, 1959 E. M. BUTLERv 2,902,776

PEG CHARTS Filed NOV. l2, 1954 5 Shaeig-Sheet l .I7 I6 Attorney Sept. 8, 1959 E. M. BUTLER 2,902,776

1 Y [nave-nl or Ernest M. Butler' A itorn ey E. M. BUTLER Sept. 8, 1959 PEG CHARTS s sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Nov. 12. 1954 ,7 Tfr/6.9.-

Attorney PEG CHARTS Ernest Matthias Butler, Didsbury, Manchester, England Application November 12, 1954, Serial No. 468,509

6 Claims. (Cl. 35-27) This invention relates to peg charts, that is to say, devices which consist essentially of a board or panel having a plurality of rows of holes or recesses, each adapted to receive an indicator usually in the form of a peg whereby an indicator chart may be built up as required, hence the name peg chart.

Such devices have known limitations and disadvantages, for example each peg, by its colour, shape can only provide one indication, according to a code, and the same limitation applies to pegs which bear a numeral, letter or written word. Such pegs also have relatively thin stems, like match-sticks and as they stand out from the surface of the board they are liable to fall out or to Ibe knocked out accidentally, or if more firmly inserted they may become bent or have their ends broken olf in a hole.

The object of the present invention is to provide a peg chart having an improved constructionand arrangement of parts in which the aforesaid limitations or disadvantages are eliminated or substantially reduced.

According to the present invention a peg chart comprises a board or panel having a plurality of rows of through-holes, each adapted to receive a peg of uniform cross section throughout its length, wherein the board or panel is of such thickness as to retain the pegs when inserted into the through-holes so that their ends lie Hush with the surface of the board.

Such a board may advantageously be mounted, for example, upon a wall, there is a space behind it, whereby the pegs may be removed by pushing them right through the holes, and in this connection movable stop means may conveniently be provided behind the panel normally defining possible depth of insertion so that the outer ends of the pegs are substantially flush with the surface of the panel, said stop means being movable to permit pegs to be pushed through by the insertion of another peg or other suitable means.

The peg chart aforesaid may be further characterised in that the holes in the board are of regular polygonal cross section, or further characterised in that the pegs are cubes. t

The invention will be described further, by way of example with reference to the acompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a front View of one form of peg chart according to the invention,

Fig. 2 is a side view corresponding to Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a front view partially broken away for clarity of a second form of peg chart in accordance with the invention,

Fig. 4 is a section along line 4-4 of Fig. 3 with some parts eliminated,

Fig. 5 is a front elevation of a section from which the peg charts may be constructed,

Figs. 6, 7, 8 and 9 are perspective views of Various kinds of pegs which may be used with the charts.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, the peg chart here illustrated consists of a panel or board 10` formed with hori- Sttes Patent 0,

'2,902,776 Patented Sept. 8, 1959 ice zontal and vertical rows of square sectioned throughholes 11. In the example shown there are fifty vertical rows and fty horizontal rows of through-holes 11, and the panel is substantially square, lbut it will be vobvious that the panels can be made with any desired number of holes per row according to a users requirements.

The panel 10 is made fromv a number of sections which are illustrated in Fig. 5, and which may conveniently be moulded from a thermoplastic material.l Referring to Fig. 1, frame channels 12 and a transverse H-sectioned member 13 serve to receive the said sections in abutting relationship, there being ten of the sections above the transverse member 13, and ten further sections below the latter.

The panel thickness is -such that when a peg such as is illustrated in Figs. 6 or 7 is inserted into one Yof the holes 11 so as to lie flush with the surfa'ce thereof, the peg will remain in this position and will not fallout of the hole, even under vibration. A suitable practical crosssectional size for the holes 11 is a quarter-of-an-inch square, and in such case the thickness of the panel 10 may be a quarter-of-an-inch, but it could be slightly less than this or, if desired, somewhat thicker.

The panel 10 is adapted to be mounted upon a wall 14 with a space 15 between it and the wall 14 as shown in Fig. 2, and for this purpose a number of brackets 16 are provided. The distance between the panel 10 and the wall 14 should be slightly `greater than the length of the pegs to be used with the chart;

ln use, the chart serves to receive signals or pegs such as are illustrated in Figs. 6 to .9.. The peg of Fig. 6, which may conveniently be coloured, is in the form of a cube, so that six characters, such as numbers, can be provided one on each face thereof, whilst the peg shown in Fig. 7 which, too, may be coloured, is circular in cross-section and may only bear a character on each end falce thereof. For use with the chart of Figs. 1 and 2, the pegs will be one-quarter-of-an-inch across their faces, so that the peg of Fig. 6 will be a quarter-of-an-inch cube, and the peg of Fig. 7 will be a quarter-of-an-inch in diameter and a quarter-of-an-inch in length.

The signals or pegs of Figs. 8 and 9 are dilferent from those of Figs. 6 and 7 in that they cannot be inserted so as to lie flush with the surface of the panel 10. These pegs are merely subsidiary to those already described. The L-shaped peg of Fig. 8 is dimensioned so as to be capable of insertion into the holes 11 of the chart, and to provide a projection which lies against and in contact with the chart, so that additional signals, e.g. coloured strips or the like can be secured to the surface of the chart by being gripped between the projection and the surface of the panel. The peg of Fig. 9 is oblong in shape and square in cross-section, and is bored at 17 to receive a cord or elastic which may be secured to another similar peg, or may extend from a conventional cord frame (not shown) disposed at the side of the chart, the cord serving as a distinctive signal on the chart.

However, it will be appreciated that the chart is primarily intended to receive pegs similar to those of Figs. 6 and 7 and that in use these are pushed into the holes 11 so that their ends llie flush with the surface of the panel 12.

With the setupof Figs. 1 and 2, it will be evident that the pegs can be removed by pushing the pegs right through the holes 11 until they fall out in the space 15 between the panel 10 and the wall 14. Removing or stripping large numbers of pegs can be facilitated by use of -a stripper (not illustrated) consisting of a bar having parallel teeth thereon at intervals corresponding to the spacing of the holes 11 and somewhat resembling a comb. By inserting the teeth into the holes 11 of a row the whole row can be stripped in a single operation and in `a very little 3 time. In this'connection it is to be noted that with all previous known peg or like charts it is necessary for each signal or peg to be removed individually, so that it sometimes takes hours for 'a chart having thousands of signals to be stripped.

As the panel or peg chart is spaced away from the Wall 14, the'pegs, after stripping, fall down behind the chart, and into a tray or like receptacle 18 which conveniently is partitioned as -at 19 so as to provide a storage space 20 in which sorted pegs may be accommodated. A lid 21 is provided for the storage space.

Referring now to Figs. 3 and 4, the chart here illustrated isy similar to that of Figs. 1 and 2, but in this instance the perforated panel 3'0is built as part of thefront i wall of a' cabinet 31, which is adapted to be secured to a walt.

`.As before, the panel is built up from a plurality of sections such as are illustrated in Fig. 5 located in channel members 32, 33. Directly behind the panel, Within the cabinet 31 is a backplate 34 which is pivotally mounted upon links 35 which permit parallel movement of the backpl'ate 34 away from the panel 30, to a position such as is shown in phantom lines at 34a.

The lowermost edge of the backplate 34 rests upon a cam disc 36 rotatably mounted at 37 and capable of rotation by means of a knob 38 so that in one position of the cam disc 36 the backplate 34 will be close against the back of the panel 30 and in another the backplate 34 is in the position shown at 34a.

Within the cabinet and below the panel 30 are two sloping walls 39, the purpose of which is merely to direct pegs which are pushed through the panel 30 to a connncd space at the bottom of the' cabinet so that they can readily be picked out. The confined space is closed by a lid 40, through which access can be had to the knob 38.

At its lower part, the' cabinet 31 is increased in depth as i's clearly shown in Fig'. 4, so as to provide Ia space for peg storage compartments which are closed by hinged lids 41.

As with the chart of Figs. 1 and 2 the pegs of Figs. 6 to 9 are employed with this embodiment. However it is to be noted that it is not possible to strip the chart unless the backplate is in its position shown at 34a.

Thus, by providing a lock on the lid 40, unauthorized stripping of or tampering with the chart can be prevented.

When the backplate 34 is in its position close up to the rear face of the panel 30 it serves to denne the possible depth to which pegs can be .inserted into the panel, and these will, as previously explained, lie nush with the face of the panel.

I claim:

1l. A peg chartcornprising asubstantially vertical panel, a mounting therefor, a plurality of through-holes in said panel, each adapted to receive a peg of uniform crosssection throughout its length, said pegs |being frictionally held in said through-holes, a solid back parallel to said panel and spaced therefrom rearwardly, the distance beof said peg so as to permit pegs to be pushed rearwardly tween said yback and panel being greater than the length free from said panel, means for firmly holding said back in said position, a mounting for said back whereby it may be shifted in parallel relation to said panel to rmly contact the rear thereof, and a receptacle for said pegs below said space.

2. A peg chart comprising a substantially Vertical panel, a mounting therefor, a plurality of through-holes in said panel, each adapted to receive a peg of uniform crosssection throughout its length, said pegs being frictionally held in said through-holes, the length of said pegs being aborut equal to the thickness of said panel, a solid back parallel to said panel and spaced therefrom rearwardly, the distance between said back and panel being greater than the length of said peg so as to permit pegs to be pushed rearwardly free from said panel, means for iirmly holding said back in said position, a mounting for said back whereby it may be shifted in parallel relation to Said panel to firmly contact the rear thereof, and a receptacle for said pegs below said space.

3. A peg chart comprising a substantially vertical panel, a mounting therefor, a plurality of through-holes in said panel, each adapted to' receive a peg of uniform crosssection throughout its length, said pegs being frictionally held in Said through-holes, a solid back parallel to said panel and spaced therefrom rearwardly, the distance between said back and panel being greater than the length of said peg so as to permit pegs to be pushed rearwardly free from `said panel, means for iirmly holding said back in said position, and a receptacle for Said pegs below said space, means for moving said back plate parallel to and sui'icier'itly close to said panel to prevent said pegs from being pushed into said space and clear of vsaid panel.

4. A peg chart according to claim 3 in which said means includes a plurality of links connecting said mountling land* back.

5. A peg chart according to claim 3 in which said means includes a plurality of links connecting said mounting and back,I a cam disk pivoted on said mounting, said back resting thereon and means for rotating said cam disk to cause shifting of said fbzic'k.V

6. A peg chart according to claim 5 in which said cam fdisk is in said receptacle and means for locking said receptacle.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS OTHER REFERENCES Magazine Section, Washington News, Sunday, Nov. 28, 1948, page 4. l v g 

